Wear behavior of Er-bearing Cu-based amorphous/crystal BMG composite under oil lubrication

Oil lubricated sliding wear of a (Cu55Zr40Al5)98Er2 amorphous/(Zr2Cu, AlCu) crystal bulk metallic glass (BMG) composite under different loads and velocities was studied with the pin-on-disk tests. The results demonstrated that load and sliding velocity significantly affected the wear characteristics of the BMG composite. The coefficient of friction ranged from 0.15 to 0.23 under loads of 10 N–30 N with different sliding velocities. Above a load of 30 N, all the coefficients of friction increase rapidly to higher values for various sliding velocities. It is found that the influence of load is greater than that of sliding velocity, and the dominant wear mechanism of this material is adhesive wear.

► There was no oxidation and no formation of the heat-induced transformation layer during the tribological test.
► The original composite structure could remain in the same glassy state with AlCu and Zr2Cu crystals during wear.
► After sliding wear, the worn surface of the BMG composite revealed a topographic combination of debris, grooves, and deformation. In the meantime, the amount of debris and cracking increased with the load.
► The influence of the load on the wear rate was greater than that of the sliding velocity.
► According to the wear coefficient, the wear mechanism of the Cu-based BMG composite is dominated by adhesive wear.